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India's Chandrayaan-1 successfully enters lunar orbit

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, Nov 9, IRNA
India-Chandrayaan-1-Lunar Orbit
History was created on Saturday when India's first mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, lifted off from Sriharikota on 22nd October and successfully entered the lunar orbit.

In one of the most crucial manoeuvres since the launch of India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, ISRO scientists injected the spacecraft into the lunar orbit today.

"The lunar orbit insertion (LOI) started around 5 p.m. and lasted around 800 second," Indian official media reported quoting Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesperson S Satish as said in Banglore.

Once the operation is completed, it will be in a 7,500 km X 500 km elliptical orbit around the moon.

"It (Chandrayaan-1) will enter the moon's orbit. It will be captured by lunar gravity," Satish said.

The LOI is tricky and on this depends the success of the Rs 386- crore moon mission.

"If everything goes right, Chandrayaan-1 will start circling the moon (today)," Indian Space Research Organisation chairman Madhavan Nair said.

The last orbit-raising manoeuvres to enter the lunar transfer trajectory were completed on Tuesday by the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore.

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